1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a dust collector, and particularly to a dust collector having a dust collecting portion to collect dust sucked by a fan through a cleaning pipe.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are several known dust collectors, one example of which is shown in FIG. 1. In the figure, a fan 1 has a discharge opening 3 which communicates with an air pipe 5. The air pipe 5 is connected with a cleaning pipe 9 through a confluence pipe 7. These elements are so constituted that a combined blast is sent to a dust collecting portion 11 comprising a dust collecting bag. A blast comes out of the fan 1 which is rotationally driven by an engine and flows into the dust collecting portion 11. In the confluence pipe 7, said blast draws air from the cleaning pipe 9 to generate suction air flow so that dust is sucked from the end of the cleaning pipe 9 and collected in the dust collecting portion 11.
FIG. 2 shows a second embodiment of a conventional dust collector. In the figure, dust is sucked by a fan 1 from the end of a cleaning pipe 9. The dust is sucked through a suction opening 13 of the fan 1, discharged from a discharge opening 3, and collected in a dust collecting portion (dust collecting bag) 11. After that, air is released into atmosphere through fabric.
FIG. 3 shows a third embodiment of a conventional dust collector. In the figure, dust sucked from the end of a cleaning pipe 9 is collected by a wire mesh 15. After that, air is sucked through a suction opening 13 of a fan 1 and released into atmosphere through a discharge opening 3.
In such conventional dust collectors, there is the disadvantage that the cleaning pipe 9 shall be rearranged when it is required to blow air from the cleaning pipe 9, instead of drawing air with dust from the cleaning pipe 9, to blow and gather dust such as fallen leaves on the ground. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the confluence pipe 7 shall be removed, and the cleaning pipe 9 shall directly be connected to the discharge opening 3 or to the air pipe 5 to blow air from the cleaning pipe 9. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the dust collecting portion 11 shall be removed from the fan 1, and the cleaning pipe 9 shall be connected to the discharge opening 3 of the fan 1 as shown in FIG. 3 to blow air from the cleaning pipe 9.